Chinese Police Rescue 11 Stowaways

BEIJING (AP) - Border police in northeastern China rescued 11 stowaways who risked death by exposure and suffocation to hide in a ship's container in an attempt to flee the country, the official newspaper Legal Daily reported Tuesday.

Police found the men, all from southern Fujian province, when they heard banging and cries for help from inside the container while inspecting a ship in Dayao Bay, in Liaoning province, the report said. By the time the container was opened, the men inside were suffering from cold and lack of oxygen, it said.

Each reportedly paid $12,000 to be smuggled out of China.

The report did not say where the ship was headed. Japan and South Korea are the closest foreign countries, apart from famine-stricken North Korea.

The deaths of three Chinese smuggled aboard a ship to Seattle, Wash., last month has refocused attention on illegal immigration from China and prompted Beijing to promise to crack down on the gangs that arrange to get migrants aboard ships.